This years new formula in F1 is under a microscope at the moment. After the Australian GP the style of racing it is forcing doesn’t seem to align with what was intended. It all centers around the unintuitive strategies to regain battery power so drivers can hit a button to pass each other a few turns later.

If we set that aside, I’m still enjoying coverage on the creative design for all new aerodynamic packages. Everyone team has showed up with wildly different setups to try and get an advantage under the new regs. Ferrari has a rear wing that flips upside down! Watching a lot of coverage on the topic likely lead me the video above.

Aprilia’s 2026 bike has a simple, but so far very clever new design. The video explains it better, but basically they are using the drivers natural body position in turns and straights to manage aero for speed and handling. And it’s inspired by early 2010’s F1 design, pretty cool.

It is hard to believe it has already been a year since starting this new site. I kicked off with a reflection on writing, websites, and social media in an digital age. Re-reading that one lap later and it holds up. Hell I’ll double down on it. Social media sucks. I want to own the thoughts and words I share.

Taking in the past year I’ve accomplished a few of the goals I set for myself and fallen short on others:

• Write consistently. Not my great American novel, but just a little something at least once a week. I ended up averaging 1.7 post a week, for a total of 92.
• Embrace the spirit of SaMCast. Mike and I put out the last episode on the 10 year anniversary, just two days before my first post here. Safe as Milk let me share the things I was enjoying (check), inspired me to try new things (check), and let me hang out with my friend (not check, but Mike and I still get coffee 2-3 times a month). I miss it a year on, but it had it’s day.
• Start new projects. You don’t need a website to start projects. My garage and office closet are a graveyard of old projects no website will ever see. But this is a good place to keep up with them. I can share, but also have some self inflicted accountability to progress them. The ABC Challenge, 50 Best Games, and Travel Logs are my favorite web specific projects from year one.
• Build my design/code skills. I have day dreamed for years about building interactive visualizations, games, and experiences on the web. What I landed on with this new site does not allow me to scratch that itch and by extension I have not progressed it much in 365 days. I am tinkering with Gemini and Claude Code occasionally, but nothing that is ever ready to surface and share.

I came to the latest Gorillaz album not by way of the music, but this stellar animated music video that covers three of it’s tracks. I’ve watched it four times at this point and will surely watch it again. It is hand drawn 2d animation from The Line (a good follow)to match the period of films it is inspired by.

Then it turns out the whole album is great too. Chill beats, belting upbeat songs, and features from Black Thought, Yasiin Bey, and more.

I’d call myself a casual J. Cole fan. My annual Spotify wrapped generally does not include him, but there is probably a new track or feature of his that makes my person playlist every year. Starting Dreamville, putting on J.I.D., and Earth Gang probably rank higher for me than his music.

BUT! His new album is great and you should give it a listen! It is a good whole album listen too, which continues to be a rare thing these days.

I’ve been listening to Worlds Beyond Number since they launched back in 2023. The newest series “Flight of the Icaron” is fantastic and just started in January. It is grounded sci-fi using the Star Wars 5e system, but is distinctly not Star Wars. Lou Wilson is in the DM chair and killing it. While Brennan Mulligan, Aabria Iyengar, and Erika Ishii are all playing complex, but fun characters. Its a great listening companion to the Scum & Villainy campaign I am currently co-running for our group.

“Hey, have you heard of this Bad Bunny guy? His songs are pretty good” was the Dad joke that elicited teen eyes rolling in our house the week before the Super Bowl. In all honesty, not until that time had I really given it a try. I’m a non-Spanish speaking man in his 40s, that made a pact with the music devil in the late 80s to exclusively listen to rap and hip hop.

That said, Bad Bunny is making some pretty damn good music. Turn it up in your car or home and watch as everyone present starts to uncontrollably nod and then eventually dance. It’s a fun time.

I was a fan of Devon Walker on SNL, but didn’t know any of his other work until Langston Kerman and David Gborie guested on his podcast. Now I listen most weeks, I dug into his old stand up, and tune in when his name pops up.